ment, and the action of that environment on his posterity is changed in consequence. The relative importance of physical features varies from age to age according to the state of knowledge and of material civilization. The improvement of artificial lighting has rendered possible the existence of a great community at St. Petersburg. The discovery of the Cape route to India and of the New World led to the fall of Venice. The invention of the steam-engine and the electric telegraph has rendered possible the great size of modern states. It must, however, be always borne in mind that the course of history at a given moment, whether in politics, society, or any other sphere of human activity, is the product not only of environment but also of the momentum acquired, in the past; and, for that reason, changes from what is established are not made so rapidly as they would otherwise be made.
Education and Work.—Many persons believe that under the present systems of education, young people are acquiring a distaste for manual labor, and that there is, consequently, danger that the trade and agricultural occupations will be deserted by all but the most inefficient classes of workmen. Much of the experience of English and American society is in favor of this view, and the tendencies in France appear to be in the same direction. As an offset to what may be said in favor of it, the London "Spectator" directs attention to the fact that no dislike of work, even of the roughest character, has appeared among two of the best-educated races. The Scotch, who have been taught for two hundred years, and are now far more thoroughly trained than English national school boys, show no disposition to avoid labor, but are remarkable for persistent and fairly contented industry. The Prussian peasants, "who are as educated as the English will be twenty years hence, work exceedingly hard, and in the country, where their holdings are their own, show none of the resentment at their fate which is manifested in the towns in the form of socialist aspirations. Gardeners, who all over Great Britain are the best instructed of manual laborers, work, more especially when working for themselves, with unusual diligence; and it is matter of constant observation that a laborer who happens by any accident to be a 'bit of a scholar,' can be depended upon when work presses and every man is required. The people of Rome, who can read and write, are far more diligent than the Neapolitans, who can not; and the best workmen in Italy are those who have passed through the army, and so obtained what is practically an education. There seems to be no a priori reason why it should be otherwise."
Anomalies in Human Teeth.—Professor Busch has described before the Physiological Society of Berlin various anomalies in human teeth. Among them are anomalies in situation, as in case of the horizontal position of a wisdom-tooth, which, pressing against the third molar, produced inflammation in it; the projection of teeth through the alveolar wall of the maxilla on the anterior or posterior side; exchanges of situation between certain teeth; and irregularities in the number of teeth. Among anomalies in structure are enamel pearls, that is, drops of enamel adhering to the roots, and having no connection with the crown. Anomalies of size are rare; enlargements affect the root more frequently than the crown. Anomalies of the root are sometimes seen in curves, but more frequently as variations in the number of roots. Such anomalies are not frequent; for, out of eleven thousand teeth examined, only about one hundred specimens had been found to present them. Swellings of the teeth are still more rare; and no osseous coalescence of the teeth had ever been observed.
Intelligence of Fish.—Mr. W. August Carter has been observing the habits and methods of fishes, and has thereby been led to assert that "the more we learn about them the more they shine out as an intelligent, crafty, and ingenious race"; and he is convinced that some fish, at any rate, are capable of understanding and being understood by one another. He has seen a shoal of carp approached while resting by an individual from another part of the pond; when, on its arrival, the entire body of fish, following the lead of the solitary carp, migrated to the other side of the
